CHAPTER LX 



THE NESS AND MORISTON 



Whose head waters are over seventy miles from the sea, is a fine, 

 broad, strong-flowing stream of about six and a half miles in length, 

 and, while emptying Loch Ness into the sea, it drains upwards of 

 seven hundred square miles of Highland country. Into this loch flow 

 the Garry, the Oich, the Moriston, and many smaller streams, while 

 the loch itself is one of the largest of the Scotch lakes, being twenty- 

 six miles long, with an average width of one mile ; in some places it 

 is of great depth, but it yet holds a plentiful supply of salmon, so 

 much so that portions of it are netted, while in the early part of the 

 season a fair number of fish are killed by trolling, chiefly at and near 

 the loch head. Moreover, it is open to the public, and can be fished 

 from any of the hotels on its banks. 



The River Ness is one of the earliest of all the rivers, and in 

 years gone by it opened on the 14th of November, at which period 

 fresh-run salmon were always plentiful for the Inverness dinners 

 held on the 30th of the month in celebration of St. Andrew's Day. 

 At present the Ness opens on the nth of February, closes for nets 

 on the 26th of August, and for rods on the 15th of October. There 

 are, however, several proprietors and numerous inhabitants of the 

 district who would Uke to see the rod season commence on the 

 1st of February, or even on the nth of January, and end on the 

 30th of September instead of the 15th of October. This is an ex- 

 periment that might well be tried for a few years, and then, if it was 

 found injurious to the river, the old close times could be restored. 

 Certain it is that in favourable seasons there are by the nth of 

 February plenty of clean salmon in Loch Ness and in Loch Oich, 

 and even in the more distant River Garry. These fish must there- 

 fore swim the Ness some time before the opening day — most likely 

 in the latter part of January or even earlier — and this is probably 

 the reason that when the Ness does open it is so rare to kill a clean 

 fish, as the run has already gone past. It is therefore likely, if this 

 experiment were made, that the quite early angling of the river 

 might be of considerable value, and there is really no valid reason 

 why it should not be done and the proprietors given an opportunity 

 of profiting thereby. 



Fortunately for this fine river and the other beautiful lochs and 

 streams that it supplies with fish, the estuary is one of the largest 

 allotted to any river in Scotland, and if all streams had only been 



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